David Merle Dalby (October 19, 1950 – August 30, 2002) was an American football center.

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Dalby was a star linemen at center and defensive end, who led his high school football team, the La Serna Lancers, of Whittier, California, to the California Scholastic Federation AAA Football Championship in 1967. An All Around athlete in high school, Dalby also played basketball and baseball at La Serna High School.

College

Dalby played for UCLA, where he became part of their All-Century team as center. Dalby also is a member of the UCLA Hall of Fame.

Raiders

Dalby played 14 seasons in the National Football League, all with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders from 1972 to 1985. He would not miss a single game in 14 years.

He replaced Hall-of-Famer Jim Otto as the starting center when the latter retired after the 1974 season, becoming only the second starting center in franchise history; Otto had been the starter since the team's inception in 1960. For the next decade, Dalby was a part of sterling offensive lines which culminated in 3 Raider Super Bowl victories: Super Bowl XI, Super Bowl XV, and Super Bowl XVIII. During that 1975-1985 window, the Raiders reached the playoffs 8 times (1975 to 1977, 1980, 1982 to 1985). Dalby played in that 1975 to 1985 span next to Hall-of-Famer Gene Upshaw, Curt Marsh, and Charley Hannah at left guard with George Buehler and Mickey Marvin at right guard. He was selected to the Pro Bowl once, after the 1977 season. After his retirement, he was replaced as the starting center in 1986 by Don Mosebar.

Death

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Dalby died in an accident 17 years after retiring from football, when his van hit a tree.